Valentines Day
by cynicismandrainbows
Summary: Delia has a boyfriend. Patsy...dislikes him.


'Patience! I say, Patience!'

'What is it?'

'Goodness, you girls can't half power through the crowds! I never thought I'd catch you'

'What do you need, Gerald?'

'You couldn't slip this under Delia's door, could you? I want it to get to her but she's on nights and you know how they are about chaps in the Home'

'Of course….doesn't it need an envelope?'

'Oh, I lost the blasted thing. The old girl will never mind, anyway. Thanks awfully, Patience'

'It's alright...'

'Actually, wait a tick! Forgot to sign it- do you have a pen?'

'You haven't written in it?'

'They do them with a poem already inside, you know.'

'I know, just… don't you think Deels might want something more…. personal?'

'Deels?'

'Delia, I meant. Don't you think she'd like something that YOU wrote yourself?'

'Oh come on- I was never one for all that soppy poem stuff. Let the good folk who make the things take care of it, I say!'

'But it's so….impersonal...'

'I paid a shilling for this, I'll have you know!'

'But-'

'Ok, ok- look, I'll pop a couple of lines in if you think it'll keep her happy. Or better yet- look, you know the sort of things girls like, can you maybe…just give me a bit of a clue? A few hints- best write them down actually, so I won't forget any of it- here, I've got a scrap of paper somewhere...'

'...'

'You said yourself she'd want something personal! And I'm a chap- you can't expect me to be any good at this sort of stuff, really…Come on, Patience, be a sport!'

'...Ok. Give it here…..'

 **'Pats!'**

'I thought I'd see if you were busy'

'Too busy for Gerald… not too busy for you though'

'Where does he think you are?'

'I told him I had a shift. I just couldn't cope with him today.'

'He believed you?'

'People don't stop scalding themselves and falling off things just because it's valentines day.'

'Well that is true. But you know you're a horrible liar, Deels. '

'Only because you know me too well- I can manage everyone else'

'Including Gerald?'

'I don't think he was really listening actually. Does it count as a lie if they're not listening?'

'...'

'Oh, Pats, don't look like that! He isn't that bad. He can be quite...nice sometimes. It's my fault really,

Pats, I tell you too much! Actually, it must be incredibly boring for you-'

'You're never boring to me. You know I don't want to make things difficult but...'

'I know what you're going to say but… he tries...And he keeps Mam quiet- it makes her so happy to think

I've found someone- I've told you how much she worried before, because I was all alone in the city and because she thought I must be terribly lonely, for some reason….and now she's so much happier with me being here!'

'So Gerald is like… a condition to you being here?'

'That makes it sound horrible!'

'Well it's not exactly ideal, is it?'

'Oh, everyone has to have a chap at some point, so why not Gerald? Look, he tries, he even sent me a Valentines day card'

'That's...nice of him'

'He put so much effort in...'

'I'm sensing a 'but' here...'

'It's nice, really, it's just….a bit off. Like, he only feels like himself when he's with me…although goodness, just last week, he was not at all shy about telling me all the ways he thought I could improve myself! And he does things because he wants to be the kind of person I deserve- brave and warm and open… is that why he tried to put his hand up my skirt at the pictures? Because that's a kind of bravery I can do without! And the thought of not being with me is so painful to him because- Pats, are you alright?'

'Maybe he's just trying to be honest'

'He's trying to be romantic is what he's trying to be. And he's doing rather badly.'

'Well, writing is hard. It can be very, very hard, actually.'

'Well it certainly is for him, or it wouldn't be so absurd to-Pats, what-'

'Actually, I just remembered, I have to-'

'Pats- PATS! Wait a bit!'

'I can't, I'm late, I-'

'Pats, please tell me what's wrong!'

'Just let me-'

'Not when you're like this! Whatever is it, cariad? You can't be upset because of what I said about

Gerald? Why, you don't even like him!'

'He- he-'

'What?'

'He...tried hard. He might've tried very, very hard…. even if it sounds silly to you, he tried'

'Oh sweetheart, I know. He did do his best. And it wasn't fair of me to mock it at all. I'm sorry, I didn't

mean to upset you'

'Was it really that bad?'

'It wasn't bad, it just wasn't him. Do you see?'

'Not really'

'All those things….Pats, they're lovely things to hear but they're coming from the wrong person. If I loved Gerald, or felt that he loved me, then they're be beautiful things to hear. But I don't, and I don't think he does either. From the right person, they'd be lovely.'

'And how do you know Gerald isn't the right person?'

'I just….know. I know what the right person would be like, and he isn't it.'

'So what's the right person?'

'Let's see… they'd have to make me laugh. Gerald does his best, and we can have a nice enough time when he isn't complaining about something, but I want to really laugh. And they'd have to be kind- not just to me, but to everyone.'

'Gerald's kind'

'Gerald is nice enough to...well, most people but it's all words. I want someone who IS kind, not just someone who says nice things. I want someone brave. And someone who actually likes me. Not just likes my face or my legs. But actually likes me, and likes spending time with me- not just because they hope I'll let them kiss me at the end of it.'

'Is that it?'

'And I want them to be tall. And beautiful. And… I like red hair. But it'll never happen like that.'

'Why not?'

'Because kind, tall, brave, funny, beautiful redheads are surprisingly rare. And all the kind, tall, brave, funny, beautiful red heads I do know will want their own chaps soon enough. Won't they?'

'...'

'Won't they, Pats?'

'...No.'


End file.
